Idaho Legislature is just full of bizarre and backwards bills

Controversial wildlife bills are only part of it-

Most of the attention by those interested in wildlife in this year’s Idaho legislature have focused on Governor “Butch” Otter’s 2-million dollar wolf killing bill as it continues to advance toward law. Nonetheless, there are other wildlife bills and a host of additional scary, strange, and backwards bills making public controversy.

There is the “let’s test fewer game farm elk for chronic wasting disease, bill.”
There is the “let’s make it a crime for people to gather information about Idaho agriculture, bill.”
There is the “let’s have guns in college classrooms, bill.”
There is the “I get to be a bigoted professional if I am religious, bill.”

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an always fatal disease of deer, elk and moose. It is caused by the deformed proteins called “prions.” They lie in the soil pretty much forever after it has become contaminated by a CWD-infected animal. You can’t tell if an elk is infected until it starts to show symptoms, but it can spread the disease before symptoms show. Presently in Idaho, all elk on an elk farm that die of their own accord must have their brains tested for CWD. A bill just passed the Idaho House reducing this test to just 10 %, meaning that, on the average, an elk farm will have ten elk dead of CWD before it is detected. A lot of people don’t like elk farms in general — thought to be very unsporting with a guaranteed “hunter” success rate of 100%. Should big antlered game farm elk be counted as records? World Record Bull Elk, Sort of. By Randy King. Boise Weekly.

Some people engage in criminal actions to release farmed furbearers such as mink or destroy crops that have artificial DNA, but others try to expose animal abuse in farming, or the use of illegal and/or toxic chemicals or additives. Still others concentrate on farm substances that don’t stay put, such as big ponds of shit, a.k.a., animal waste. There are also those who worry about and report on the creation and effects of today’s food from a myraid of crop and livestock derived substances and other chemicals. Many of these food products would have been unrecognizable as food 50 years ago.

To counter the above, there is the idea that if folks don’t know, and are not allowed to learn of these things, they will be happy and buy food products without complaint. As result we have amendments to Idaho’s Interference With Agricultural Production” Act. This bill S.1298(now S.1337) is based on a Koch Brothers (ALEC) template. The bill defines agricultural production so broadly that any private rural land, fenced or not, would subject activities by the public that are now often legal to be made criminal. Mere entry becomes criminal trespass. The bill would even criminalize any audio or video recordings made of agricultural land, buildings, or operations. This probably includes still photos made from cell phones.

A controversial non-wildlife bill is guns on campuses. All the colleges have weighed in against it. The bill is not nearly as broad as often portrayed. Presently the bill allows only retired law enforcement officers or those with an enhanced concealed-carry permit to carry a gun on campus. However, as an ex-professor I wonder about the right of faculty to be armed? Retired law enforcement officers or students with an enhanced concealed-carry permits might well want to shoot you for a bad grade or a lecture topic they don’t like. Do faculty have a “stand your ground” defense to pop a dangerous appearing student first?

There is the “rights for (sincerely) religious bigots bill,” at least if the religious bigots are professional people delivering a service. They will get to refuse service to gays, lesbians, bisexual, transgenered if these people violate the professional’s “sincerely held religious beliefs.”. . . single mothers too.

Those who are atheists, agnostics, or just don’t go to church often will not gain this “right” to discriminate against people on the basis of whatever. “Whatever” is because the bill doesn’t actually mention the two groups above, although news reports often say it does. Instead, the bill (H0426) appears to allow freestyle bigotry for sincerely religious professionals. The relevant actual text of the bill follows.

“No occupational licensing board or governmental subdivision or entity shall deny, revoke or suspend a person’s professional or occupational license, certificate or registration for any of the following and the following are not unprofessional conduct:
(a) Declining to provide or participate in providing any service that
violates the person’s sincerely held religious beliefs or exercise of
religion except where performing emergency response duties for public
safety.
(b) Refusing to affirm a statement or oath that is contrary to the person’s sincerely held religious beliefs or exercise of religion.
(c) Expressing sincerely held religious beliefs.
(d) Providing faith-based services.
(e) Making business-related decisions in accordance with sincerely held religious beliefs or exercise of religion including, but not limited to:

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Ralph Maughan

Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is President of the Western Watersheds Project.

37 Responses to Idaho Legislature is just full of bizarre and backwards bills

Talk about taking a step backward in time,to the Puritan age, around the 17th century . I wonder if the unmarried mothers will have to wear a scarlet letter every time they go out? Talk about big brother watching you, when paranoia runs rampart with the fear that everyone is out to get you,or change you or your way of life or taking your freedoms away, but wave the American flag and proclaim it is the land of the free, but, yet,be hypocritical when it comes to others freedoms and rights.

Ralph- I just dropped off a letter to the Idaho legislature explaining my position, as an Idaho resident and wildlife photographer, on Otter’s $2 million wolf killing bill.
I turned in 110 copies so that each and every legislator received a copy. Each of the letters had a captioned photo attached, of a wolf in a trap to illustrate my feelings.

To do something similar, one must drop them off in the Idaho Capital building at the Legislative information office, which is located in the east wing of the lower level. Each letter must have the name of the legislator it is meant for on it and must include your name and a street mailing address. They do not have to be stamped or in an envelope. My letter was a single sheet with the wolf photo paper-clipped to it.

I share your hopes, but wildlife issues do not emerge from a vacuum. You cannot understand these controversies over elk, bison, bighorn, wolves, access to the outdoors, and so on without understanding the social and political context from which they came.

I agree with Ralph. In the same vein, I have been bothered by efforts to encourage the removal of “emotionalism” from efforts to stop wolf hunts (for example). Emotions are what we experience when we are faced with a situation that we know is terribly wrong. Often we feel the “wrongness” before we research and verify it.

Agree. Many people who want to get rid of a species talk about how public values should be taken into account, but they mean only the public that they get to select.

With regard to the wolves, I have been following the alien, invasive, animal pest of plants designation assigned to horses and burros by the federal government despite the federal government showing no authentic sources or, for that matter, not authentic sources either. Because there was substantial evidence to the contrary in journal that publish articles based on molecular biology, mitochondrial DNA,fossils,paleoanthropology, and other evidence, none of the assumptions one can make about the use of the humanly created construct of how species have moved around the continent seeking refugia when the climate where they were became more difficult for them. At any rate, in a recent article there was some mention that a species (I think it may have been a gray wolf is not native to the United States). Given that the more scientists are learning about species that shared similar habitat on more than one continent previously, and other factors, you might want to check on whether or not this ruling is based on faulty science. FWS is the primary agency that pushed for an exotic species management plan, but none of the species listed in the original document had an authentic scientific reference explaining how each species is know to have to have originated from a certain place. Several scientists have written papers the point out that this theory relies on anecdotal evidence and there are very few if any studies showing empirical evidence that the species accused of harming the ecosystem is actually the species responsible or that the change in the environment is necessarily due to the species being present. Therefore, for those of you who have invested so much passion in saving the wolves, if you find that the alien, invasive, animal pest of plants is the applicable law, you should be aware that the unratified UNCBD Article 8 (h)is linked to the ratified 1997 re-ratified IPPC that went into effect on 10/02/2005. Good luck.

You may know more about this than I do, but I recently learned that the EPA uses members of the Union of Concerned Scientists as their scientific experts, but the UCS refuses to show their research.

The UCS and the IUCN put together the initial official document that lists species as native or non-native, alien, exotic, feral, invasive, or pests. I repeat the fact that there were no citations to verify the authenticity of whether an animal or plant is native or not—when the sentence for alien invasives is death would seem to be a minimum requirement. I am greatly concerned that scientists chosen as experts for federal policies cannot produce the research that supports their decisions and you should be too.

“Three states signed ag-gag bill into law in 2011 and 2012, setting new legal precedents. This year, a flurry of legislation — 15 ag-gag bills — was introduced in 11 states, but interestingly, not a single one passed. (Indeed, in some states, more than one measure was introduced: Tennessee and Arkansas each had two, while Indiana had three.)”

It appears the legislative torch has passed from Wyoming to Idaho for the Winter Olympics of Bizzare and Backwards bills, for now. Wyoming’s elders are also meeting as we speak, but it’s a budget session , so the ideological wackiness and special interest feeding frenzy is somewhat tempered here in the Cowboy State.

Webmaster note: There is a lot of good informaton here about chronic wasting disease. However, Terry S. Singeltary Sr. can smoother us with the volume. If readers don’t want these long “comments” to show up (or do want them), please comment on this.
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5. On July 16, 2012, DNR received a notice from the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab (“Texas Vet Lab”) that a sample from an adult male deer killed at Pine Ridge tested presumptively positive for CWD. (DNR has an agreement with the Texas Vet Lab to run these preliminary tests.) Because the Texas Vet Lab found this presumptive positive result, protocols required the sample to be sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (“National Lab”) in Ames, Iowa for final confirmation. On July 18, 2012, the National Lab confirmed the positive CWD result in the deer.

6. On July 19, 2012, DNR notified the Brakkes of the positive test by phone. Mr. Brakke was out of state.

snip…

12. The Brakkes depopulated the Hunting Preserve, as specified in the Agreement, from September 10, 2012 to January 31, 2013. As part of this effort, the Brakkes, the staff and their customers killed 199 captive deer and nine captive elk. The DNR obtained 170 CWD samples. (Samples were not taken from fawns and one adult female who was killed in a manner that made sampling impossible.) Of these 199 deer, two additional adult male deer tested positive for CWD. Information provided by the Brakkes confirmed that these two additional deer originated from the Brakke Breeding Facility.

13. DNR installed, with the Brakke’s permission, an interior electric fence on October 1 and 2, 2012.

14. The Brakkes cleaned and disinfected, under DNR supervision, the feeders and ground surrounding the feeders on April 5, 2013.

15. On April 26, 2013, the Brakkes hand-delivered a notice to the DNR’s Chief of Law Enforcement Bureau, notifying the DNR that they would no longer operate a hunting preserve on the Quarantined Premises. The Brakkes did not reveal any plans to remove the fence around the Quarantined Premises or to remove the gates to and from the Quarantined Premises in this April 26, 2013 letter.

16. On June 3, 2013, DNR became aware that sections of the exterior fence surrounding the Quarantined Premises had been removed and that some, if not all, of the exterior gates to and from the Quarantined Premises were open.

17. On June 4, 2013, DNR received reports from the public in the area that four wild deer were observed inside the Quarantined Premises.

18. On June 5, 2013, DNR conducted a fence inspection, after gaining approval from surrounding landowners, and confirmed that the fenced had been cut or removed in at least four separate locations; that the fence had degraded and was failing to maintain the enclosure around the Quarantined Premises in at least one area; that at least three gates had been opened; and that deer tracks were visible in and around one of the open areas in the sand on both sides of the fence, evidencing movement of deer into the Quarantined Premises.

I don’t believe that for one minute. the shooting pens are not testing in high enough numbers, and the myth they test all animals is total BSe. record keeping is as such, they would not even know what they tested, if they did test, or what the outcome was.

anything voluntary will NOT work in the CWD program for shooting pens.

they must test all cervids that are sold, slaughtered, or dead on the farm, and this must be mandatory, in my opinion, for it to work.

CWD surveillance programs are now in place in almost all US states and Canadian provinces (Figure 2, panel A). More than 1,060,000 free-ranging cervids have reportedly been tested for CWD (Figure 2, panel B) and ≈6,000 cases have been identified (Figure 2, panel C) according to data from state and provincial wildlife agencies.

*** Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD. The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr. Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had previously been occupied by sheep. …

also, see where even decades back, the USDA had the same thought as they do today with CWD, not their problem…see page 27 below as well, where USDA stated back then, the same thing they stated in the state of Pennsylvania, not their damn business, once they escape, and they said the same thing about CWD in general back then ;

”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and consequently not their province!” …page 26.

”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and consequently not their province!” …page 26.

The results of this study suggest that there are many similarities in the manifestation of CWD and scrapie in WTD after IC inoculation including early and widespread presence of PrPSc in lymphoid tissues, clinical signs of depression and weight loss progressing to wasting, and an incubation time of 21-23 months. Moreover, western blots (WB) done on brain material from the obex region have a molecular profile similar to CWD and distinct from tissues of the cerebrum or the scrapie inoculum. However, results of microscopic and IHC examination indicate that there are differences between the lesions expected in CWD and those that occur in deer with scrapie: amyloid plaques were not noted in any sections of brain examined from these deer and the pattern of immunoreactivity by IHC was diffuse rather than plaque-like.

*** After a natural route of exposure, 100% of WTD were susceptible to scrapie.

Deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 months PI. Tissues from these deer were positive for PrPSc by IHC and WB. Similar to IC inoculated deer, samples from these deer exhibited two different molecular profiles: samples from obex resembled CWD whereas those from cerebrum were similar to the original scrapie inoculum. On further examination by WB using a panel of antibodies, the tissues from deer with scrapie exhibit properties differing from tissues either from sheep with scrapie or WTD with CWD. Samples from WTD with CWD or sheep with scrapie are strongly immunoreactive when probed with mAb P4, however, samples from WTD with scrapie are only weakly immunoreactive. In contrast, when probed with mAb’s 6H4 or SAF 84, samples from sheep with scrapie and WTD with CWD are weakly immunoreactive and samples from WTD with scrapie are strongly positive. This work demonstrates that WTD are highly susceptible to sheep scrapie, but on first passage, scrapie in WTD is differentiable from CWD.

1) prior to the onset of clinical signs PrPSc is widely distributed in the CNS and lymphoid tissues and

2) currently used diagnostic methods are sufficient to detect PrPSc prior to the onset of clinical signs.

The results of this study suggest that there are many similarities in the manifestation of CWD and scrapie in white-tailed deer after IC inoculation including early and widespread presence of PrPSc in lymphoid tissues, clinical signs of depression and weight loss progressing to wasting, and an incubation time of 21-23 months. Moreover, western blots (WB) done on brain material from the obex region have a molecular profile consistent with CWD and distinct from tissues of the cerebrum or the scrapie inoculum. However, results of microscopic and IHC examination indicate that there are differences between the lesions expected in CWD and those that occur in deer with scrapie: amyloid plaques were not noted in any sections of brain examined from these deer and the pattern of immunoreactivity by IHC was diffuse rather than plaque-like. After a natural route of exposure, 100% of white-tailed deer were susceptible to scrapie. Deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 months PI. Tissues from these deer were positive for scrapie by IHC and WB. Tissues with PrPSc immunoreactivity included brain, tonsil, retropharyngeal and mesenteric lymph nodes, hemal node, Peyer’s patches, and spleen. While two WB patterns have been detected in brain regions of deer inoculated by the natural route, unlike the IC inoculated deer, the pattern similar to the scrapie inoculum predominates.

Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES Location: Virus and Prion Research Unit

2011 Annual Report

In Objective 1, Assess cross-species transmissibility of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in livestock and wildlife, numerous experiments assessing the susceptibility of various TSEs in different host species were conducted. Most notable is deer inoculated with scrapie, which exhibits similarities to chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer suggestive of sheep scrapie as an origin of CWD.

snip…

4. Accomplishments

1. Deer inoculated with domestic isolates of sheep scrapie. Scrapie-affected deer exhibit 2 different patterns of disease associated prion protein. In some regions of the brain the pattern is much like that observed for scrapie, while in others it is more like chronic wasting disease (CWD), the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy typically associated with deer.

his work conducted by ARS scientists at the National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA suggests that an interspecies transmission of sheep scrapie to deer may have been the origin of CWD. This is important for husbandry practices with both captive deer, elk and sheep for farmers and ranchers attempting to keep their herds and flocks free of CWD and scrapie.

This work demonstrates for the first time that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep scrapie by potential natural routes of inoculation. In-depth analysis of tissues will be done to determine similarities between scrapie in deer after intracranial and oral/intranasal inoculation and chronic wasting disease resulting from similar routes of inoculation.

DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012

snip…

In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration’s BSE Feed Regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed system. However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law.

Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:

1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD eradication zones and

2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.

Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.

The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES. It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.

Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk protein is imported into GB.

There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these products.

snip…

36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011). The clinical signs of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and behavioural changes that can span weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition, signs might include excessive salivation, behavioural alterations including a fixed stare and changes in interaction with other animals in the herd, and an altered stance (Williams, 2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Given this, if CWD was to be introduced into countries with BSE such as GB, for example, infected deer populations would need to be tested to differentiate if they were infected with CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the human food-chain via affected venison.

snip…

The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).

snip…

In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with CWD prion.

snip…

In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing, footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible. For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant uncertainty associated with these estimates.

snip…

Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists and returning GB residents.

Mr. Singletary rightfully sounds the warning bell for the potential risks of prion related diseases, including CJD which took his mother’s life nearly 30 years ago.

The science is complex, the answers far from clear or complete, and the potential for spread of prion related diseases, whether CWD or mad cow, throughout the West and the world is DOWNRIGHT alarming. It should capture the attention of everyone concerned about wildlife, domestic stock, the things we eat and the potential for this phenomenon to skip species and potentially imperil human health.

Perhaps a topic link in the margin somewhere on this forum is a good place for such detailed and complicated information, with periodic updates like only Mr. Singletary can provide, would meet this objective.

Here, I think it detracts significantly from the other topics discussed. Not to dismiss his comments at all, but the shear volume and marginally tangential nature of the topic detracts from other topics.

it was a one time post, actually, it was condensed to titles, with _volumes_ of detailed update to date science on the CWD TSE prion disease. if it’s a problem, I can delete it? meant no harm, just trying to tell you the rest of this story. …

not to distract from the topic, and actually, far from it, we all must be concerned with the friendly fire aspect of it all, including cwd. if shooting pens are _helping_ to spread CWD, the ramifications from that, cannot be ignored, and my family, your family, they are all at risk of exposure to the cwd TSE prion. now, I will shorten this up for you. the recent science is all there. I don’t advertise or make money from this. these blogs are for education purposes. the science there from is from the most peer review studies, or official government pages. I hope a few of you find this interesting, and I hope a few find all this as alarming as I do. i.e. the pass it forward mode. …

Perhaps unintentionally this article didn’t separate High fence hunting operations from other Elk farms. The elk farms at least aren’t trying to be anything more than a meat farm. The high fence operations are not hunting by any stretch of the imagination and should just be banned completely. Where the two types of operations shouldn’t differ is in the requirement to test every single animal for CWD. It is unimaginable to me that anyone would even think about relaxing that requirement.

To Ralph or anyone with answers – What is the effect of Chronic Wasting Disease on wild elk populations in Idaho? Has there been any field research or conclusions made, of wild elk dying from it? Wolves are being exclusively blamed for elk populations decline. Hence $2 billion bill to eradicate 500 wolves. But there’s no hard evidence to be found. Anyone with sources of research and studies done on elk population decline, please offer a hand. There’s seems to be a serious shortage of facts. Could it be there have been more hunting licenses given and elk hunted over the years, as well as habitat loss due to human invasion, and Chronic Wasting Disease? Elk hunters are speaking out and Otter’s $2 wolf kill bill is on it’s way to the House. It’s time to voice some reason in response to all the hunters and IDFG opinion out there. Let’s all write to our congressmen and women so our taxpayer money is not wasted on something as frivolous as wolf hunting. And get the facts straight. Biologists working for government organizations are known to be biased in favor of where their money comes from – whether logging companies or “sportsmen”. But even their studies and research I have not seen or heard… It’s just all assumption it seems to me.

Chronic Wasting Disease has not been detected in Idaho. Of course, this is very good news. Given Idaho’s good luck, it is very irritating that the legislature believes luck will hold and so they want to allow a reduction of the required testing for it in the numerous elk farms around the states.

You made a couple factual errors. The wolf control plan is for $2-million, not billion. The money will come from Idaho taxpayers, not U.S. taxpayers. It will come from Idaho’s general fund. This is completely unlike the Idaho Department of Fish and Game which receives no general fund monies.

*** We conclude that TSE infectivity is likely to survive burial for long time periods with minimal loss of infectivity and limited movement from the original burial site. However PMCA results have shown that there is the potential for rainwater to elute TSE related material from soil which could lead to the contamination of a wider area. These experiments reinforce the importance of risk assessment when disposing of TSE risk materials.

*** The results show that even highly diluted PrPSc can bind efficiently to polypropylene, stainless steel, glass, wood and stone and propagate the conversion of normal prion protein. For in vivo experiments, hamsters were ic injected with implants incubated in 1% 263K-infected brain homogenate. Hamsters, inoculated with 263K-contaminated implants of all groups, developed typical signs of prion disease, whereas control animals inoculated with non-contaminated materials did not.

PRION 2014 CONFERENCE

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD

A FEW FINDINGS ;

Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first established experimental model of CWD in TgSB3985. We found evidence for co-existence or divergence of two CWD strains adapted to Tga20 mice and their replication in TgSB3985 mice. Finally, we observed phenotypic differences between cervid-derived CWD and CWD/Tg20 strains upon propagation in TgSB3985 mice. Further studies are underway to characterize these strains.

We conclude that TSE infectivity is likely to survive burial for long time periods with minimal loss of infectivity and limited movement from the original burial site. However PMCA results have shown that there is the potential for rainwater to elute TSE related material from soil which could lead to the contamination of a wider area. These experiments reinforce the importance of risk assessment when disposing of TSE risk materials.

The results show that even highly diluted PrPSc can bind efficiently to polypropylene, stainless steel, glass, wood and stone and propagate the conversion of normal prion protein. For in vivo experiments, hamsters were ic injected with implants incubated in 1% 263K-infected brain homogenate. Hamsters, inoculated with 263K-contaminated implants of all groups, developed typical signs of prion disease, whereas control animals inoculated with non-contaminated materials did not.

Our data establish that meadow voles are permissive to CWD via peripheral exposure route, suggesting they could serve as an environmental reservoir for CWD. Additionally, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that at least two strains of CWD circulate in naturally-infected cervid populations and provide evidence that meadow voles are a useful tool for CWD strain typing.

Conclusion. CWD prions are shed in saliva and urine of infected deer as early as 3 months post infection and throughout the subsequent >1.5 year course of infection. In current work we are examining the relationship of prionemia to excretion and the impact of excreted prion binding to surfaces and particulates in the environment.

Conclusion. CWD prions (as inferred by prion seeding activity by RT-QuIC) are shed in urine of infected deer as early as 6 months post inoculation and throughout the subsequent disease course. Further studies are in progress refining the real-time urinary prion assay sensitivity and we are examining more closely the excretion time frame, magnitude, and sample variables in relationship to inoculation route and prionemia in naturally and experimentally CWD-infected cervids.

Conclusions. Our results suggested that the odds of infection for CWD is likely controlled by areas that congregate deer thus increasing direct transmission (deer-to-deer interactions) or indirect transmission (deer-to-environment) by sharing or depositing infectious prion proteins in these preferred habitats. Epidemiology of CWD in the eastern U.S. is likely controlled by separate factors than found in the Midwestern and endemic areas for CWD and can assist in performing more efficient surveillance efforts for the region.

Conclusions. During the pre-symptomatic stage of CWD infection and throughout the course of disease deer may be shedding multiple LD50 doses per day in their saliva. CWD prion shedding through saliva and excreta may account for the unprecedented spread of this prion disease in nature.

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‎"At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour."